The information provided in this section is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Conventional vehicular weight measurement and sensing systems are known to be embedded in a seat of a vehicle. For example, one known weight measurement and sensing system includes air bladders and/or strain gauge sensors embedded into seat cushions or a seat frame. Another known weight measurement and sensing system includes strain gauges mounted within a seat assembly between a floor pan and seat tracks. Yet another known weight measurement and sensing system includes sensors located at the four corners of a seat assembly—either in the seat cushions or the seat frame.
However, all of the foregoing types of weight measurement and sensing systems are embedded within the seat of the vehicle. Accordingly, each respective system must be customized for the seat within which it will be embedded. This is known to increase the complexity and cost of weight measurement and sensing systems, which must be specifically tailored to different seat models. Even modest changes to seat size, shape, location, etc. may drastically alter the form and cost of typical weight measuring and sensing systems.
Furthermore, conventional weight measurement and sensing systems are known to report whether an occupant of a vehicle is greater than or equal to 51.6 lbs. (based, for example, on the minimum requirements of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), in order to, for example, actuate the deployment of an airbag. In such systems, an airbag may either (i) deploy at a particular strength based, at least in part, on whether the occupant exceeds the 51.6 lbs or (ii) not deploy at all. That is, conventional weight measurement and sensing systems fail to account for the specific weight of an occupant (beyond assessing whether the occupant meets or exceeds the 51.6 lbs) in setting a deployment strength of an airbag.
Accordingly, weight measurement and sensing systems designed to address one or more of the foregoing issues are desired.